Privacy Policy

Bitly, Inc. ("bitlyTM") takes the private nature of your personal information very seriously. This Privacy Policy (which we adapted from a policy originally provided by Automattic (WordPress.com)) describes how we treat the information we collect when you visit and use any website available from Bitly, Inc. and is made available under the Creative Commons Sharealike license. Please read this notice very carefully. It is Bitly, Inc.‘ policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect while operating our websites.

Website Visitors

Like most website operators, Bitly, Inc. collects non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. Bitly, Inc.‘ purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how Bitly, Inc. visitors use its website. From time to time, Bitly, Inc. may release non-personally-identifying information in the aggregate, e.g., by publishing a report on trends in the usage of its website.

Bitly, Inc. also collects potentially personally-identifying information like Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Bitly, Inc. does not use such information to identify its visitors, however, and does not disclose such information, other than under the same circumstances that it uses and discloses personally-identifying information, as described below. Please be aware that Bitly, Inc. cannot be responsible for the privacy practices of other sites, including those to which we link or whose products or services we reference. We encourage you to read the terms of use and privacy statements of each Web site you visit.

Gathering of Personally-Identifying Information

Certain visitors to Bitly, Inc. websites choose to interact with Bitly, Inc. in ways that require Bitly, Inc. to gather personally-identifying information. The amount and type of information that Bitly, Inc. gathers depends on the nature of the interaction. For example, we ask visitors who sign up for an account at Bitly, Inc. to provide a username and email address. Those who engage in transactions with Bitly, Inc. are asked to provide additional information, including as necessary the personal and financial information required to process those transactions. In each case, Bitly, Inc. collects such information only insofar as is necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose of the visitor’s interaction with Bitly, Inc.. Bitly, Inc. does not disclose personally-identifying information other than as described below. And visitors can always refuse to supply personally-identifying information, with the caveat that it may prevent them from engaging in certain website-related activities.

Aggregated Statistics

Bitly, Inc. may collect statistics about the behavior of visitors to its websites. For instance, Bitly, Inc. may monitor the most popular links on the site. Bitly, Inc. may display this information publicly or provide it to others. However, Bitly, Inc. does not disclose personally-identifying information other than as described below.

Protection of Certain Personally-Identifying Information

Bitly, Inc. discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only to those of its employees, contractors and affiliated organizations that (i) need to know that information in order to process it on Bitly, Inc.‘ behalf or to provide services available at Bitly, Inc. websites, and (ii) that have agreed not to disclose it to others. Some of those employees, contractors and affiliated organizations may be located outside of your home country; by using Bitly, Inc. websites, you consent to the transfer of such information to them. Bitly, Inc. will not rent or sell potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information to anyone. Other than to its employees, contractors and affiliated organizations, as described above, Bitly, Inc. discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only when required to do so by law, or when Bitly, Inc. believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of Bitly, Inc., third parties or the public at large. If you are a registered user of a Bitly, Inc. website and have supplied your email address, Bitly, Inc. may occasionally send you an email to tell you about new features, solicit your feedback, or just keep you up to date with what’s going on with Bitly, Inc. and our products. We primarily use our various product blogs to communicate this type of information, so we expect to keep this type of email to a minimum. If you send us a request (for example via a support email or via one of our feedback mechanisms), we reserve the right to publish it in order to help us clarify or respond to your request or to help us support other users. Bitly, Inc. takes all measures reasonably necessary to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration or destruction of potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information. However, if Bitly, Inc. or any of its products is sold to a new owner, whether by merger, stock sale, asset sale or other means, we retain the right to transfer your profile, Site Data and all other content, data and information to this new owner, provided the owner agrees to respect the Privacy Policy in effect with respect to this personal data.

Cookies

A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. Bitly, Inc. uses cookies to help Bitly, Inc. identify and track visitors, their usage of Bitly, Inc. websites, and their website access preferences. Bitly, Inc. visitors who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers should set their browsers to refuse cookies before using Bitly, Inc.‘ websites, with the drawback that certain features of Bitly, Inc. websites may not function properly without the aid of cookies.

Privacy Policy Changes

Although most changes are likely to be minor, Bitly, Inc. may change its Privacy Policy from time to time, and in Bitly, Inc.‘ sole discretion. Bitly, Inc. encourages visitors to frequently check this page for any changes to its Privacy Policy. Your continued use of this site after any change in this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such change.